The United Nations (UN), which has an important role on the world stage in peace, security, human rights and global cooperation, continues to bring world leaders together in its annual General Assembly meetings. The 78th General Assembly of the UN convened to focus on global issues at a historic time. Marking the year 2023, this important event once again demonstrated that world leaders, diplomats and civil society representatives are coming together in a joint effort to solve global problems.
The UN General Assembly is an important platform that has become the center of international relations. This year’s theme of the meetings, which are organized under different themes every year, is “Global Cooperation: Sustainable Development, Peace and Human Rights”.
Speeches at the UN General Assembly reveal competing demands and grievances as key elements of the global scene. Climate change, war, public health crises and inequality all come to the fore, highlighting the urgency of these global problems. Yet there is international disagreement not only about what is most important, but also about what the solutions should be. [1]
People are looking to their leaders as a way out of these crises.” said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. [2] According to Guterres, the multiplicity of voices in a new multipolar world leads to escalation, fragmentation and worse For the coming crises, he adds, these polarizations lead to shortcomings in responding to crises.[3]
Some countries are reluctant to fully participate in this cooperation due to sovereignty concerns. This is where the UN’s emphasis appears. The need for unification in a multipolar world is repeatedly emphasized.
Even though the issues talked about are quite broad, each state has its own opinion and different points to defend. This means that on some issues the UN is standing still. The talks are, to put it mildly, a global festival of competing wants and needs, complaints and demands. The climate, war, public health, inequality and, most fundamentally, fragmentation and chaos were emphasized. [4]
In his inaugural speech on Tuesday, September 19, 2023, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said, “Our world is going to hell in a handbasket” and at the UN Climate Conference, he raised the bar even higher by saying that “Humanity has opened the gates of hell”.[5]
To this speech, Swiss President Alain Berset answered: “We are going through a crisis. [6] Probably the most important crisis since the end of the Second World War.” “We no longer trust any narrative,” said Slovenian President Nataša Pirc Musar President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador said, “We believe that the world must be reborn.”.[7]
At the opening of the UN Climate Summit, UN Secretary-General António Guterres drew attention to the climate crisis with a sharp criticism of rich countries and the fossil fuel industry. Guterres stated that the world is “decades behind” in the transition to clean energy and that some fossil fuel companies are making a “shameful” attempt to block the transition. “The future of humanity is in our hands,” Guterres said, emphasizing the need for action and reversal of course.
Western leaders also need cooperation because of their own concerns. The fact that some leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, chose not to come to New York makes these collaborations even more difficult. The absence of some countries from the UN Climate Summit is interpreted as an indication that we are not taking the climate crisis seriously enough. [8]
It is stated that harsh criticism of the fossil fuel industry was prominent at the summit. Gavin Newsom, Governor of California, drew applause from the hall by defining the climate crisis as a fossil fuel crisis. Newsom stated that the burning of oil, gas and coal is one of the main causes of the climate crisis and emphasized that we need to clearly state this fact.
While there are a number of agreements and consensus, there is still a huge gap in the scope of measures that need to be taken to prevent catastrophic climate change. David Waskow, Director of the International Climate Initiative at the World Resources Institute, assessed: “The small steps that countries are proposing are welcome, but they are like trying to put out an inferno with a leaking hose.”. [9] There are still hopes that the Cop28 Climate Summit in Dubai in November this year will fill this gap.
[1] James Landale, “United Nations General Assembly Leaders Look for Unity Over Crises.”, BBC News, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66846608, (Erişim Tarihi: 21.09.2023).
[2] Aynı yer.
[3] Aynı yer.
[4] Ted Anthony, “Behind All The Speechmaking At The UN Lies A Basic, Unspoken Question: Is The World Governable?”, AP News, https://apnews.com/article/united-nations-general-assembly-multilateralism-goals-08c1edb481c05dbb0a454ae5a3cbbb3a, (Erişim Tarihi: 21.09.2023).
[5] “Humanity Has Opened Gates of Hell on Climate: Guterres.”, Xinhua Net, https://english.news.cn/20230921/872d550f41f44291bb3ac9b09e1524fb/c.html, (Erişim Tarihi: 21.09.2023).
[6] “Humanity Has ‘Opened Gates to Hell’ By Letting Climate Crisis Worsen, UN Secretary Warns”, The Guardian,
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/20/antonio-guterres-un-climate-summit-gates-hell, (Erişim Tarihi: 21.09.2023).
[7] Aynı yer.
[8] “Humanity Has Opened the Gates to Hell, Warns Guterres as Climate Coalition Demands Action”, UN News, https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/09/1141082, (Erişim Tarihi: 21.09.2023).
[9] Same place
